The Forgotten Familiar
by Castellia
Summary: Changelings have been switching places with humans for over thousands of years. Every single goblin selected to do this task has succeeded, until it was Argwar's turn. He was supposed to do a good job, but who says goblins aren't clumsy? And who says nothing can survive the Darklands? Deya and Argwar will have to until someone opens the Killahead Bridge. You can guess who it is.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Changelings were considered "Impures" among trolls because they were neither human nor troll. Though this name quite suited them, it wasn't very kind at all. They were switched at birth with their human counterparts whom were titled "familiars." The exchange was made possible by goblins who would pass through small cracks in the Killahead Bridge barrier. They would then take the babies to the Darklands nursery were they would be cared for. But who's to say some goblins aren't clumsy?

It was just after dusk in the small town of Arcadia Oaks. After dusk meant the sun went down, which also meant trolls were free to roam about the night. The goblins were resting in the museum, after having done a hard day of working to protect their next from intruders. There was one goblin in particular. Argwar. He was rather new to this "goblin business."

He had been assigned the job of taking a young girl by the name of Deya to be replaced with a troll. Argwar was nervous as he waited outside the girl's house, ready to strike when the all the lights went out. Waiting was a thing that came naturally to trolls and goblins alike. What was hard for him was not being seen by any human. After waiting a few hours, all the lights in the house finally dimmed, leaving Argwar to do his job.

He snuck out from behind the bushes where he had been hiding. It was uncomfortable, but necessary to be hidden from view. He stood behind a two-story house, painted white with a touch of blue.

Climbing was something that came naturally for Argwar, but getting inside was type tricky bit. He climbed onto one of the walls, up to the roof. It seemed the there was a window that led to the baby's room, so he tried that. To his surprise, the window had been open.

Replacing babies was something that had to be done quietly, so he moved with extreme caution inside the room as to not wake neither the baby nor the parents. The room was a small one, with the door opposite the window. It was colored a pastel shade of purple, too light to his delight. It was decorated with gray clouds and some fake green grass on the bottom. To one side of the room was the crib. He climbed up the wall onto the mobile that hung directly above it. The mobile had figures of birds attached to it.

Accidentally rocking the mobile, the baby lying below opened its eyes, which were a bright green color. The baby started laughing, so Argwar tried his best to calm the baby down with words like "Chaka Chaka" about a thousand times.

Once the baby was calm, he wrapped it in a blanket that had been close by, just how all goblins were taught when they were prepared for a mission. After wrapping the baby in the blanket, he held the baby as closely and tightly as he could so he would not drop it. He went back out the way he came in, careful not to make any noise. He returned to the bushed where he had hidden. Inside the bushed was the fetch, a small portal to the Darklands which goblins used to make the exchange between human and troll.

He had brought the fetch with him, under Fragwa's orders, even though he thought it would be unnecessary as he could travel back to the museum. But he did so anyway, knowing that to argue with Fragwa's would earn him nothing but exile from the goblin pack. So he slipped back into the bushes with nothing but a small rusle. He turned the fetch on, and a swirling portal of green was in the middle of it.

It's now or never, he thought. He jumped into the green cloud of the fetch. The air went from warm to extremely cold. In the Darklands it was like that. After successfully reaching the Darklands, he set out to reach the nursery. Every goblin knew the way by heart, I case they were ever burdened with making the switch. Navigating the Darklands wasn't hard for Argwar, but for others it was like stumbling around a black labyrinth. The Darklands were very dark, apart from being cold. Naturally all trolls and goblins had eyesight that let them see in the dark, so navigating really wasn't a problem.

Scuttling around the Darklands for a while, Argwar finally reached the changeling nursery. A wide grin spread across his face, because this meant he would just leave the baby and let the blood goblins deal with the rest. He climbed up a tall spike that was pure black, so it was hard to see. He held onto the baby as hard as he could, but apparently it wasn't hard enough. As he climbed the spike, it became harder and harder to hold on. To Argwar, the rest was just a blur. He remembered jumping up to see if he could reach one of the chains that was hanging from the ceiling. It was too high for him to reach, so he fell down the other spike the was right below him. When he did, his grip loosened, and he dropped the baby. She fell and fell, al the way to the ground an the very bottom. The thing about familiars in the Darklands, a spell was cast on them it he moment they entered. The spell would not allow the baby to age, nor would it allow it to be hurt.

Oops, he thought. What would Fragwa say about him now? He tried to climb down, but it was just to steep. He thought of something, then he saw chain that looked like it led to the bottom. He grabbed hold of it, this time really hanging on tight. He slid down for what seemed like a few seconds, and he reached the bottom. It was very very dark down here, as this was the very bottom most level of the Darklands. Again, darkness wasn't a problem because he could see in the dark.

He searched and searched for the baby with no luck until he finally heard a small cry. And by small cry, he meant so small he could barely hear it. Oh wow, this must be some brave child, he thought. Following the sound of the cry until he found her. She was still in her blanket. Argwar picked her up and found the chain he used to come down. This time he made sure to hold on to the baby really well. Reaching the top, he started to walk towards the nursery, but something made him hold back.

The way the baby looked at him, it was with sympathy. Her big green eyes and dark black hair made Argwar give her a smile back, well, if you could call it a smile. With his fangs it looked more like a toothy grin. But the baby didn't care. She laughed softly. Aww, the baby made Argwar think. If a baby was brave enough to survive the bottom of the Darklands for even a few minutes, she would be to good for the nursery. He could not let a brave child like this go waste, but he couldn't return her to the surface world either. The changeling had already taken position, so he couldn't return her either.

So he did the next best thing he could think of. He would raise the baby in the Darklands on his own. He honestly thought he couldn't do it, but luckily he had also learned his e take care of babies I case he was ever needed in the nursery to take are of the children. He would seek out the perfect cave for him to stay in. He would raise the baby girl named Deya. He would become her guardian and father. He, Argwar, would never got back to the goblin pack. He knew Fragwa would hate him, and he would be exiled, but none of that mattered now that he had a job to do.

So after making the decision, he set off into the Darklands, searching for the perfect cave to stay in and call a home.

* * *

 _So this is an interesting topic. My original Idea was to have a child grow up in the Darklands alone, but that wouldn't really work. So I thought, who would take care of the baby and feed it and stuff? Well, the answer to that question was the goblin who originally took her in the first place. It is weird to see a goblin and a human work together, like I said it's an interesting topic. I want to see how the est turns out, because this is a fun story to write._


	2. Chapter 2: Thirteen years

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! School really just killed me, so I didn't have any time at all. At least I finally found some time during my Thanksgiving Break. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

13 years later…

The rush of adrenaline. The wind in her hair. It all felt like a dream. Sort of.

Like living in the Darklands was some kind of dream though. Being trapped in the dark, smelly abyss for years took a toll on s person.

They managed to survive though. Barely.

Life had been hard. But working together, they could get through anything.

Including the monsters currently chasing her.

The Nyalagroth dug back into the ground, while she tried her best to avoid it. The slimy creature. She hated it whenever she got caught by one.

Running, Deya desperately tried to think of a plan. The best she could do was grab the end of a chain.

Grabbing the chain, she spun around just as the Nyalagroth came up and out of the ground. She stayed on target, the monster's neck.

Because being in the Darklands actually taught you something, Deya learned that to kill, or at least shock for a while, a Nyalagroth, you needed to aim your weapon under it's thick armor.

She carefully wedged her sword between the slimy skin and thick armor.

The Nyalagroth gave a ear-splitting shriek that shuddered the caverns.

It fell onto the ground, shocked. Deya knew her luxury would only last a few minutes, so she got to work.

She dropped onto the ground, careful in case it was still awake.

Lucky for her, it's mouth was open, so it would be easier. Deya pried the teeth of the Nyalagroth with her sword.

Good thing it was so thick, otherwise it would have broke because taking the teeth out was the hardest thing ever.

Imagine trying to open a huge metal door, while standing on a rope and all while holding a hug bag full of camping supplies. That was the feeling.

After getting at least two (while almost taking her fingers out in the process), she ran back home.

It was a while before she got back, and running was constantly a challenge. She had to cleverly avoid and of Gunmar's minions, and climb over rocks.

She was starving, and her black hair was constantly getting in her eyes.

Her armor was weighing her down, and the cold air didn't help either.

She was just gonna have to suck it up, like she did after thirteen years.

* * *

Finally arriving back at camp, or home, she went to go find Argwar, and share what she had gathered.

Argwar was the young Goblin who had raised her. He told her that he had found her in the Darklands, lost.

So far Deya had believed it, but she didn't know how much she was missing.

Reaching the back rooms, Argwar was reading the same book for the thousandth time, _The Many Adventures of Past Trollhunters._ Ever since the book had come through the fetch, he never let it out of his sight.

Argwar looked up, his green hair and skin looking dark due to the lack of light.

"I brought these." Deya reached into her pocket and pulled out the Nyalagroth teeth.

Argwar set his book on the table. "Excellent!" He had taught himself how to speak English in order to communicate with Deya. He had sounded a bit weird at first, inaudible, but he rapidly improved, and now was very fluent.

Argwar took the teeth and headed into the kitchen. He never spoke much, despite being fluent.

Deya headed to her cave, exhausted.

It was a wide cave, with a crystal light hanging from the top. It dangled by a single chain. Her bed wa against one wall, along with a stone slab atop two smaller rocks she used as a desk. On her desk she had multiple pencils, a few books, and drawing of hers.

Deya layed on her bed. _When,_ she thought. _When will we ever leave?_

She had wanted to leave this prison forever. It felt awful being trapped, constantly living in fear.

She wanted nothing more than to return to the surface world, and live a normal life, as normal as a girl raised by a Goblin in Hell could be.

But she knew the rule. There's only one way out of here: through the Killahead Bridge.

The Bridge hadn't opened in almost a century. As far a she knows, that was when Gunmar was banished.

She wanted someone to open the freaking bridge more than anything. Deya knew the chances of that were very slim, so she lost hope.

Still, she though, maybe someone would come through. She hoped for it to open soon, but little did she knew it was right around the corner.


End file.
